68 



THE OOLOGIST. 



The lU'st of tin- Suinnu'i' Rcdliird is 

 composed cntirt'ly nf dry, yellowish 

 ffrasst's, it-; liniiiu- and outside beiu"- of 

 the same niateiial. Tlie nest is a very 

 frail structure, the l)ottoni \)v\u<r so 

 thin that, when the female is off the 

 nest, oi:e '-an easily see whether it eon- 

 tains e^■o•s or not. I have seen nests so 

 thin that I could count the number of 

 eggs tliey held by standing beneath and 

 looking up. 



The eggs are usually' four in number, 

 the ground color being of a greenish- 

 blue, thickly spotted Ijy dark Ijrowu 

 -ipots which sometimes coalesce around 

 the larger end, forming a dark ring. 

 I once found a nest which contained 

 five eggs of uniform size making a very 

 pretty set. 



While collecting in a small town 

 about seventeen miles from Lebanon, 

 last June, I found at least twenty old 

 nests of the Summer Redl)ird which had 

 lain and hatched in May. This bird, 

 though compai'atively rare here, was 

 the most plentiful bird in the vicinity of 

 that town. I procured a good many 

 eggs of this bird ^\ hile staying there. 



One curious fact I have noticed con- 

 eerning the ►Slimmer Redbird, they fre- 

 quently build their nests in the same 

 tree, on the same branch as the preced- 

 ing year, even thoug they may have 

 been ro'nlx'd the ])revious year. This 

 .some may doulit, but probably persons 

 l)esides myself have noticed it. 



E. Cakl Litsey, 

 Marion Co., Ky. 



The Audubon Ornithological Club. 



On Dec. G, lb89, Mr. Frank Woodruti', 

 of Chicago, reported seeing a Pine Sis- 

 kin mingling with a Hock of Redpolls in 

 the school J'ard at Normal, 111. 



Mr. C. A. Jones noted two Hocks of 

 Bluebirds at Grand Crossing, Feb. 10, 

 1890. 



The Ridgway Ornith<dogical Club, of 

 Chiosigo, which has been asleep for 



al)out two years, has b^'cn reoi'ganized 

 through the efforts of Mr. H. K. Coale, 

 the secretary, aiul intends to go into 

 ai-ti\e o])eraUons once more. Tht> Sec- 

 retary would like to heal' fi'om all old 

 meml)ei's. 



At the last meeting of the Audnl)on 

 Orniti)oh)gical Club, Feb. 14. IS'JO, the 

 fo'llowing correspoliding meml)ers were 

 admitted: Dr. S. A. Forbes, Cham- 

 paign, Ills., and Mr. E. B. Peck, Clifton 

 Springs, N. Y. Several interesting 

 papers were read, among which was 

 one on the tiayontis sayii by Mr. A. M. 

 Cox, one on the American Herring Gull 

 by Mr. O. B Zimmerman and one by 

 Mr. A. R. Ilager on the Yellow-headed 

 B ackbird. 



Early Arrivals. 



Notes by Wilfred A. Buotheiiton. 

 Obsekver for Station, Rochester, 

 Mich., Bureau of Ornithology 

 AND Mammalogy, U. S. Department 

 OF Agriculture. 



Tlie following birds have appeared in 

 this region remarkably early this year: 



Ceryle alcyon (Linn.), Belted King- 

 fisher. Was first observed here March 

 1st. Saw two or three flying over a 

 mill pond, my attention being first 

 attracted to them hy their peculiar cry. 

 There w^as then more ice on the pond 

 than ordinarily for this winter, yet 

 there was some clear water and Paint 

 creek and Clinton river were not frozen 

 except where dammed up. 



Mcurla migratoria (Linn.), American 

 Robin. Was lirst reported to me as 

 having Ijcen seen by some neighbors, 

 Feb. I'ith and 13th. Feb. 16th, I .saw 

 two. Heard their notes a few times 

 sint-e, during warmer days, we having 

 had our coldest weather since March 

 1st. (July two weeks of snow here this 

 winter and farmers plowing nearly 

 every month. Ground not fro/en until 

 lately. 



